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Tag Archives: Slow shutter

We went to a firework show this weekend and decided to bring along the camera and try my hand at capturing some interesting images. I ended up with a few that I’m really happy with and decided to share them there.

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I haven’t been spending as much time with photography as I would have liked during the past month. However, there was a nice carnival in town a few weeks ago and it gave me a perfect chance to practice some slow shutter speed photography. I went during a weeknight, so I pretty much had the place to myself, which has its advantages and disadvantages. One big advantage was I could set up my camera pretty much anywhere and not be in anyone’s way. On the flipside, because no one was there, I had to wait around for someone to get on a ride, so it would actually move.

All told, I was probably photographing for about 90 minutes; trying out different speeds and camera placements. I had a blast and actually quite a few people came up to see what I was doing. I still need to work on my skills and practice more to improve, but I think this trip to the carnival paid off with a few good shots. See for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments below.

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I took this picture on a recent getaway to Sarasota. I had absentmindedly forgotten my tripod at the hotel, but fortunately, since I’ve only recently gotten the tripod I’ve developed quite the skill for using available objects as a tripod. Therefore, I placed my camera on a small curb to get this shot. It took a few attempts to get the settings right, but I think using the low curb actually gave the picture a different perspective that I find alluring. So, here’s to remembering the tripod next time, but also remembering to look for new perspectives.

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During this period of time we’re calling funemployment, one of my goals was to hone my photography skills. To that end, I purchased a tripod to experiment with night photography and using slow shutter speeds.

In this photo, I was intrigued by the young teens selling these “pan cakes” out of their cart. I was really drawn to the writing on the sign and the way the light fell on the cart. While I was setting up the tripod my wife went to buy a pancake, so she ended up being a nice piece to the composition. The movement effect was totally by accident as I had not had enough practice yet as to gauge the shutter speed I would need for the photo, but I’m pleasantly surprised with this accidental blurring of the teens.

One of the first things I wanted to try out with the tripod was the light streaks created by flowing traffic. However I knew that having something stationary in the picture would enhance it, so we walked around George Town looking for some traffic and something stationary that could prove to be striking. While this street sign and planter aren’t the most exotic objects, I still enjoyed this composition of the cars taking the curve with the sign in front.

I was drawn out of my hotel by the full moon shining brightly over Hong Kong. I just so happened down a street that lined up some interesting neon signs that I could put in juxtaposition with the natural light of the moon. Unfortunately my lack of familiarity with night photography hindered me from getting the shot I wanted. I could never get the moon properly infocus, so this is a technique I will continue to work on and hopefully improve in the coming months.

Here again I was experimenting at capturing the moon over Hong Kong that same night. In my attempts to gain a proper shot of the moon I wound up with this somewhat interesting look at the clouds streaking in front of it framed by the high-rise apartments.

So these were some of my first attempts at nighttime photography. I hope to improve as I get more experience with it. If you have any suggestions or you just want to share what you think I’d appreciate it.